Do you remember...

We were discussing the other day about travelling before cars had seat belts and you could smoke on ariplanes.

My companion was wild talking about how he was always carying on board a sac of big bad firecrackers on his way from PAris to Nice for the 14 of July party and on top of that he was smoking the whole trip???!!!

My friends mother told a story about going skiing with the four kids in the car, because it was a long trip they all had to sleep. One was on mom's lap, one lay down on the back seat floor, one on the back seat and another was suspended in a hammock, there were no seat belts and the entire front couchlikeseat moved forward at the push of a button.

What do you remember?

The smoking ban on US flights began in April 1988. Seat belts were required to be installed in new cars in 1968 and the first state laws mandating use were in 1984.

Prior to the smoking ban it was common to see a yellow stain on the door seals of airliners. The pressurization seals leak a little air all the time and the yellow stain was from the nicotine in the smokey air leaking past the door seals

I remember sleeping (as a small child) on the back floor of our car, playing in the back seat(including standing up and jumping) and even lying in the "shelf area" in the back window!

My first car, a 64 VW, did not have seat belts and I was in a crash in it...hit from the side on the driver's door. I think that was one of the very rare occasions when I actually might have been hurt worse if I had been wearing one.

I remember the first car my parents owned didn't have seat belts, and throwing a fit when they purchased the second car which did (no shoulder straps though).

I remember being in coach and allowed by the flight crew "upstairs" on a 747 to see how it was set up (it wasn't seats but a "bar/lounge" area for the first class passengers).

I remember riding in the back of a pick-up truck.

I remember riding bikes without helmets.

I remember when a thin curtain separated the smoking section from the non-smoking section on a plane and then, when nothing but an invisible line did the trick.

As I grew up in New York, my family never had a car, and I didn't even learn to drive until I had been married for a couple of years and we moved to NJ. When I was a child, we travelled very, very little, and generally within the city by bus or subway.

My first plane ride was mostly unplanned. A college friend and I were going to spend a week on Nantucket Island (1961?), getting there by bus from NY. But there was some sort of transportation strike, and so we ended up flying to Hyannis and taking a ferry across. When I next flew, to Europe on a Sabena charter in 1964, it was a real big deal. And in 1968, when we flew to Italy on our honeymoon (TWA), I distinctly recall getting dinner menus.

When my daughter was born (in 1973, after I had been driving a couple of years) we had a baby carriage (a Marmet) which came off its wheels and became a car bed; you would put the sleeping infant in the back seat of the car. I do remember having a back-facing car seat, for the front seat of the car, when she was a bit older; my most vivid recollection is of this rather well coordinated baby figuring out she could move the gear shift with great ease, if only she tried . Then came the back-seat car seat.

When my daughter was pre-school age, people regularly had carpools with the kids in back of station wagons. And I don't recall that she EVER had a helmet when riding a bike.

As for smoking on planes: Of course! And I remember my husband's story of the "stewardess" on Allegheny Airlines asking the passengers to please distinguish all cigarettes before takeoff.

Marian - I, too, remember dinner menus on my first international flight - may still have it in a scrapbook somewhere, as a matter of fact!

And I remember with horror a (thankfully short) flight from Milan to London when for some reason we were given seats in the MIDDLE of the smoking section at the back of the plane. It was NOT a pleasant experience!

I also remember a time when international reservations were made, if at all, by snail mail, using information from Frommer's or Fodor's guidebooks, or hotel lists from a city/country Tourist office -- and you arrived not having a clue what you would be walking into.

Ah yes - those were the days.

And on a road trip with my 7 month old daughter, we used a wooden porta crib set up in the back seat (it was designed to be used that way) - but no harness or any other restraining device on the baby. And the car seat hooked over the back of the front seat with two flimsy metal hooks, and had a plastic miniature sized steering wheel attached for the child to play with.

And going back even further into ancient history - in Jr. Hi and High school we regularly would head from San Jose to Santa Cruz with a minimum of half a dozen of us in the bed of someone's pickup truck - or with the same number crammed into the back of someone's family station wagon.

Judy

I remember the dental surgery to fix my teeth after smacking facefirst into the front after someone rearended my family's car. Look ma, no seatbelts!

Another flashback memory -- getting dressed up to fly anywhere - heels, nylons, white gloves.

Judy

quote:

Another flashback memory -- getting dressed up to fly anywhere - heels, nylons, white gloves.

Judy, until about 1963 or so, I would never dream of being in midtown Manhattan, or on the subway to work, unless wearing a skirt and white gloves. Or maybe even later, as I recall buying white leather short gloves in Florence in 1964.

And Amy ow!: An unrecognized advantage of travelling by subway with your kids is that they are unlikely to have accidents requiring facial surgery!

I remember when the Italian flights to Sardinia had smoking on one side of the airplane, non-smoking just across the aisle. That was pretty nuts. I also remember the rivets on the wings dancing in the wind, as if a sciopero was called just after the wings were half assembled and somebody forgot about them.

Now "lighting up" is so bad that when a single nut case tries to light up a shoe and wham, everyone is doomed to removing shoes at the airport and putting them and some smelly feet on display, an act of penance that may never, ever end.

james

I think the first plane ride I ever took was a propeller plane, not a jet. I was only 9 at the time and we went to Miami to visit my grandparents.

Speaking of rattling screws in an airplane, I flew on a stretched DC-8 to Helsinki in 1974. These loose screws were on the ceiling. We went through customs in Bangor, Maine in a Quonset hut.

Traveled into the Russia (then, the Soviet Union) in an overnight train car that literally had frost and snow inside because it was so old.

Flew on Royal Jordanian and Royal Air Maroc back in the day when the women rushed to the toilets to change into traditional Arab clothes before landing in their home countries. Smoking section was separated by -- nothing but the seat back!

Flew on Pan Am rt to Madrid. Coming home, I was by an exit door with the seal iced over. I froze! I had walking pneumonia within a few weeks, but at least the door didn't blow off!

Yes, I grew up in the 50's and 60's with no seat belts; parents smoked in the car with the windows rolled up (mom died of lung cancer at 51 and dad at 65 of a heart attack).

I think travel is much safer now! :-)
Cameron

quote:

I remember riding in the back of a pick-up truck.

When my kids were in nursery school, they had a teacher who drove a pickup. She would regularly load a bunch of kids in the back of the truck (no such thing as parental permission slips back then) and take them off on field trips. But no one thought anything of it. In fact, if the parents had any opinion, it was that it was kind of neat that Liz (the teacher) would take the kids off to a local science museum, for example, on the spur of the moment if something came up in the classroom that was related.

And my son as a teenager almost died when he flipped off his bike and hit the pavement with his head -- nobody wore helmets then either.

- Roz

When I was young, we went a couple of times to visit my grandparents in Sarasota, Florida, making the two day trip from Maryland by car.

This was before the interstate. When we had to go to the bathroom, we tried to pick a "good" filling station. Usually you had to get a key from the attendant to use the ladies room (which sometimes turned out not to be so good).

For lunch we liked to stop at Howard Johnsons or maybe a Stuckeys. And at night we stayed in an old-fashioned motel (or it was called a motor court), where the rooms were in a long row on one level, and all the doors opened to the outside. Remember these?

I vaguely remember the Burma Shave signs. And we always liked the signs for "South of the Border."

Of course no seat belts. I liked to lay in the back of the station wagon and read books. Or we sang songs or we played games to look for license plates or things that started with different letters of the alphabet. No one watched their personal DVD player or listened to their ipod. (Or now I think about it, no air conditioning in the car either...)

Kathy

I recall that cigarettes were given out at no cost on airplanes in little boxes holding maybe three or four cigarettes. As for seatbelts, the first time I remember using them was in 1970 after I had moved to L.A. and bought the necessary 70's "BUG" and everyone in LA at the time seemed to use seatbelts. I mean before that how could you cuddle in the front bench seat if you had a seat belt on!! BJinNM

Allegany Airlines overbooked us on a trip from somewhere in WV to Pitsburgh so my brother and I both under ten before 1975 were made to sit on folding chairs like card table chairs. The seats weren't attatched to anything and neither were we. There was alot of turbulence.

I remember the lounge/ bar in the 747 up the stairs and they gave out silverware as a gift.

A friend of mine would ride his motorcycle to DC from Frederick Maryland with his friends that were driving a car. As soon as they would cross the border into DC he would remove his motorcycle helmet and throw it into the open window of the car of his friends without slowing down.

In the late 1970's I used to spend my summers with relatives in Germany and I remember this one time, going home in a Lufthansa flight, the stewardesses were in charge of about 25 of us kids and I a la Lord of the Flies (you could always count on me for some brilliant - and mischievous - idea) decided, as I was bored stiff, we should all go see the pilots doing their thing... You can imagine it, they were quite freaked out seeing all of us in there touching buttons and asking questions. The good thing out of it? We didn't bring the plane down and for the next couple of hours the stewardesses filled us up with toys and candies.

Bugsy

In the 70's we had a Volkswagon Bug. The two girls rode in the boot - 6 inches away from the engine.

My dad had at least three different cadillacs when I was growing up. I remember the pull down arm cushion in the middle of back seat, where they would plop me down on. The minute the car took off I was like a flying torpedo! The seats of course were leather and slick as all get out. We would all be on the floor at least once or twice in our journeys...never had the seat belts on...also I remember my dad driving way over the limit many times. I remember once we got pulled over by the police and may dad was obviously intoxicated and he talked himself out of a ticket and the officer just said, "well drive careful now"! Yikes!

Just rode in the bed of a pickup truck yesterday -- Yee haw!

Mr and meself travelled to former E. Germany (Berlin) only weeks after the Wall came down and when the train dude took off to who-knows-where with our eurail passes Mr (who had travelled in the East often before) latched onto the back of the train dude's coat and refused to let go until he had our passports (and passes) back in hand. Was a big laugh with fellow travelers!

Cheers,
Alecto

Oh heck, I'm double-posting! But I do also recall when I was a kid and the TWA stewardesses would go around giving candy and 'Wings of TWA' pins to all of us. I wonder if anyone still has any of those? Mine are long gone.

Cheers,
Alecto

My first flight in any airplane was on a Delta Convair 880 out of O'Hare. The second was on a Delta DC-7 4 engine prop driven airliner.

I remember that when the pilot was starting the engines on those prop airliners, it was standard procedure for a lineman standing next to the engine with a gigantic fire extinguisher on wheels to blast the engine with CO2 if it caught fire!

My first flight to Italy was JFK to Milan on TWA in the late 60's. I too remember the menus,dressing up,and the wings they gave my little brother.I think he still has them or perhaps I do here. I remember seeing them not too long ago.

My dad's first car was a '55 turquoise and cream colored Chevy Belair, of course no seat belts and my litte brother always rode standing up. Somehow though we never had an accident even through we drove thru snowstorms that I vividly remember.

How about legal drinking age was 18 and we drank and drove, well I didn't as I didn't have a license but my boyfriend and all my friends did.Plus usually the car was packed and of course no seat belts. Gosh...how did we survive?

My first flight was on a propeller plane from London to Paris. Somewhere over the English Channel one of the engines stopped. The pilot announced that we may have noticed that they had turned off one of the engines because it was overheating but since we were past the point of no return we would continue on to Paris. I have hated flying ever since!

When Nikki was born in 1970 she rode in her carry cot on the jump seat of our MGB.

In 1973 we were living in Iran. We flew from London to Tehran with Jen's coach build Silver Cross pram on the plane with us. The huge wheels went into the hold, the top came on board with us. It wasn't build to come apart, but somehow Terry rigged some handles so that we could carry in on board. The bottom wasn't even flat and it was huge - what were we thinking?!?

I can't remember the car we owned in Tehran, but it had the front bench seat. Nikki aged three sat between Terry and me in one of those car seats that Judy mentioned..the ones that just hooked over the back of the seat. Jen, as a baby, sat on my lap.

When we first did trade shows in Toronto (late 80's) we would take all of our trade samples AND the display shelving with us on the flight. The shelving units collapsed but the sides were 6 feet long. Occasionally (yes just occasionally) we would be charged an excess baggage fee of $25 - $50. We were always outraged when this happened.

That is hilarious. I remember carrying on board from DC to Florence via Paris a huge Bronze sculpture, I almost got a hernia it was so heavy.

My first flights were in the noisy, uncomfortable Bristol Freighters, which served as car ferries on the Lydd - Le Touquet route during the 50s & 60s. Taking your car on a plane rather than a sea ferry was quite a time-saver, and my father (a pilot during WW2 and, briefly, after) always loved flying.

The photos in the link are from the early 50s; my first trip was in 59. There was only room for 2 or 3 cars; the separate passenger compartment (converted from a troop carrier) wasn't high on luxury - but for the six-year-old me, it was a wonderfully exciting experience!

Jonathan

When I was a child, back in the Dark Ages, we traveled by train a couple of times from Austin to Minneapolis to visit Grandparents in Afton, on the St. Croix River. Then we started flying DC-3s, courtesy of Braniff Airways. Austin to Waco to Dallas to Kansas City to MSP -- or something like that. I remember walking up out on the runway to the plane and then climbing up to our seats from the rear door, as the plane sloped front to back. Our meals were served with little packets of Chiclets gum, to help our ears adjust to the pressure, as the planes were not pressurized. And we all got a four-pack of Lucky Strikes (or similar) with our meals, and anyone (adult) who wanted to could light up -- no smoking section.

Flying was a big deal, then; folks tended to dress up for a trip.

The process of getting from one point to another has really changed. Now I can fly to Houston for a morning meeting or court hearing and be back in my office that afternoon.

I remember going to Disney World when it first opened, we flew Eastern Airlines and stayed at the Best Western's around Fl. and ate at Burger king.

Ah, such civilized memories. Who remembers travel by thumb? Hitchhiking Europe with a backpack? Sleeping under the highway overpass or in the rest area women's bathroom when a ride wasn't forthcoming? Now those were the glory days, eh?

Ah yes, flying was a big deal. Everyone dressed, meals were served with engraved metal cutlery, booze was free. Sometimes we travelled to Europe on the cheap, and took the 10-day ocean liner instead. Early 60's, I think.

What about having to pretend you were part of a group like a sports club or something similar to get a cheap charter airfare?
We had to do that when my Mum and I went to the UK in 1971.
That particular flight stopped in Greenland,and the doors iced open; so all the women and children were huddled to the back of the plane to keep warm till they fixed it!
There wasn't a proper terminal to go into to keep warm.
In December!!!!!

Not so long ago, in the 90's, I had a job that required us to do about 13 week-long meetings in one year. My boss dreaded these meetings, so to get him on the plane and in the mood I would make and carry on board three HUGE frozen margaritas, one for him, one for me, and one for the head of HR. I'm pretty sure it was against the rules to bring your own booze on the plane even then, but nobody ever asked or checked what was in your "water" bottle. And if they had, it would have been pretty interesting explaining why the CEO and two VPs didn't make the meeting and maybe needed to be bailed out.

quote:

Originally posted by teaberry:
I think the first plane ride I ever took was a propeller plane, not a jet. I was only 9 at the time and we went to Miami to visit my grandparents.

Uhmmmm....I haven't taken a prop plane since...last Tuesday!! (the joys of living in a tiny town...2 of our 5 flights a day to Houston now are on props, not even RJ's!)

Anne

In the 1960's we flew Phillipine Airlines, China Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Thai International, Alitalia, Pan Am, you name it - that was when my dad worked for the UN. Thai Int'l gave you the most food, until you were ready to burst; all the ladies received orchid corsages and fold out fans. They had colouring books for the kids to keep us busy and quiet (as if we would dare make a fuss on the plane, we knew we'd get a good spanking for embarassing my parents!).
We used to get little carry on bags with airline logos for each ticket purchased. The Air France canvas zip up briefcase was the perfect size for comic books. This was economy class. I can only dream what the goodies were like in First Class in those days.
My brothers collected the little pins with wings, the free airplane postcards tucked in the flight magazines and the menus. Sometimes the pilot or co-pilot would stroll down the aisle and hand out model planes.
My mother collected up the airline buns in case we arrived at our next hotel and the restaurants were closed, and anyway why spend money on buying breakfast if we had airline buns? She still does that. And paper napkins too.
All us kids ran around once the seat belt signs were off and collected barf bags from empty seats because my mother was extremely prone to air sickness and we didn't want her to run out.
I remember flying Air Luxembourg and the left side of the plane was Smoking and the right side was Non-smoking. Not clear on the concept.
And all the stewardesses were beautiful, young, slim. Of course the industry was younger in those days too. It was very blatant, Singapore Airlines advertised for flight attendants, and right after the language requirements came height, weight, clear skin, & attractiveness quotient.